Friday, July 18, 2014

Autopsy – Tourniquets, Hacksaws, and Graves

Since Autopsy’s return just a few years
ago, the band has been quite prolific. “Tourniquets, Hacksaws, and Graves”
marks their third-full length in the new millennium, and much like the two
before it, it brings plenty of good ideas to the fold. For the most part, these
ideas are nothing new for Autopsy, particularly on the first half of the
record. In fact, most of this album could be considered an extension of “The
Headless Ritual”, but with slightly less melody. The music is still disgusting,
aided largely in part by Chris Reifert’s disturbed vocals. It sounds like his
voice gets deeper and deeper on each release. He’s able to change his attack
with each line of words when he wants to, and this means things can be
completely understandable one second, and incomprehensible the next. This
incredible ability is displayed well on the title track, which shows Reifert
doing everything from incredibly guttural vocals, to higher-pitched black
metal-esque rasps. Accompanying Reifert’s distraught vocals are franticly paced
guitar solos. The opener, “Savagery”, has quite a few of these, and that song
barely breaks 2 minutes. This track shows the band at their best: playing fast,
aggressive death metal, with an emphasis on conjuring atmosphere amongst the
brutality.

When the band does slow down, it gives them
an opportunity to explore more sadistic melodies. In “King of Flesh Ripped”,
for example, the guitars work in harmony to create sickening moments of awe. The
next few tracks largely continue what the first two songs have set up. The
album takes a much more interesting turn on its latter half, as the band comes
up with some unique ideas that haven’t been seen on an Autopsy album before.
“Deep Crimson Dreaming” is the highlight; Joe Allen’s bass playing on this song
is absolutely incredible. It isn’t particularly technical, but he picks his
spots correctly and makes the bass cut through the mix in a way that really
enhances what the rest of the band is doing. This track is quite slow, but it gives off the feeling that the title implies: the mood is incredibly
creepy. “Parasitic Eye” continues showcasing a new side of Autopsy by opening
with some bluesy riffing. It sounds a bit strange to call anything this band
does blues, but it seems completely appropriate for this track. Of course, most
of the song is your standard Autopsy affair (though this sound comes back later
in the track), but this slight bit of variety really improves the album
substantially.

“Tourniquets, Hacksaws, and Graves” is
pretty much your standard Autopsy record. Like the last one, it flirts with
innovation, but ultimately stays the course the band has set. They are
releasing material pretty quickly, but it’s still pretty decent stuff. While
the heights of “Macabre Eternal” haven’t been reached with this record, it will
still appeal to fans of Autopsy. The band might benefit from cutting their albums even shorter, but there is no bad material on this release.